Group Claiming Responsibility for Bomb That Injured Youngster Warns of Another

A letter purporting to be from the group claiming responsibility for a pipe bomb explosion that injured the young stepson of an Oxnard narcotics detective has been received by a Ventura newspaper and suggests that another explosive device has been sent to local law officers, it was reported Wednesday.

"We wanted to start the year off with a bang," said the letter that arrived at the Star Free Press on Tuesday evening, "but we havent heard it yet. Did it go off and the narcs keep it a secret from you or are you to busy writing about our brothers in Libya to write about us?"

The letter was signed "PLA," presumably for People's Liberation Army, the name attached to a series of threats to Ventura County narcotics officers.

No Knowledge of New Bomb

Neither the Ventura County Sheriff's Department nor police departments of Ventura and Oxnard, however, appeared to know anything about any new bomb being sent to one of their officers or planted at any law enforcement facility.

The two-page letter was written in the same stenciled style as previous letters signed by the People's Liberation Army.

It included a threat to present officers with "lots of surprises" and demanded that the newspaper tell police to "sign the surrender letter and give it to you and send the reward money to Col. (Moammar Kadafi) Quaadafi in our name."

"Surrender Letter"

It was not known what the writer meant by "surrender letter." The reward apparently referred to the total of $32,000 posted by several law enforcement associations for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone responsible for two pipe bomb explosions and the mailing of insecticide-laced candy to a Ventura County Sheriff's Department narcotics detective.

The only victim has been the 7-year-old stepson of an Oxnard detective, who received minor injuries last Sept. 12 when a pipe bomb went off at his home.

Sheriff's Cmdr. Vince France said authorities had "no intention of meeting any demands of a common criminal."